A Hans Strijdom High School schoolboy has been suspended from all rugby for three years after knocking a provincial referee unconscious during a match.

According to the Beeld, the incident occurred during a schoolboy game in Mookgophong earlier this month. Referee Chris de Beer (37), a member of the Blue Bulls Rugby Referee’s Society, was unconscious and had to receive medical treatment from paramedics on the field.

The 17-year-old schoolboy, who is currently in matric, pleaded guilty at a disciplinary hearing this week and received a 10-year ban, of which seven years were suspended.

President of the BBRU Louis Nel said the schoolboy had been ‘banned from anything associated with rugby’. He added that the committee had taken two extenuating circumstances into consideration, namely the fact that it was the boy’s first offence and that his mother was seriously ill.

It’s also been reported that De Beer has resigned from the referee BBRU’s referee society because of his unhappiness about the outcome.